Preface and Readers Guide

With major limitations, the planned scope of this book is a systematic look at the
mineral and rock materials that have been used from prehistoric times through the
seventeenth century CE. The author has used the end of the seventeenth century as
a stopping point because the expansion of the world economy and scientific knowledge at that time would have led this book to become two volumes. [The notation
used for dates throughout is BCE (Before the Common Era), CE (dating to our
Common Era) and BP (Before the Present) to avoid any religious connotations.]
Archaeomineralogy may seem like a small and arcane niche in the scholarly
world. However, it turned out to be very difficult to limit the number of references
cited from the large universe of publications. In preparing this volume it became
obvious that the number of germane articles and books lies somewhere between
5000 and 10,000. Those publications used and referenced constitute only a small
fraction of the literature. Although there are over 800 references, and almost as
many additions were consulted but not used, the sheer immensity of the literature
precluded comprehensive coverage. Hence, the references in this volume are in no
way exhaustive.
Consideration of the use of specific ores grades imperceptibly into production
technology and other aspects of archaeometallurgy. Consideration of metal ore and
lithic sources leads imperceptibly into provenance studies and consideration of the
color of gems can lead directly into gemology. It has been difficult at times to draw
the line and stay on course to keep the content of this volume to a manageable
size.
The author has taught geoarchaeology approximately a dozen times, spanning
nearly 30 years at three universities, so his gathering of material and references
dates back this far and even farther. He has made notes on lithologic compositions
of artifacts in excavation storehouses, in museum displays, and non-display collections, particularly in Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, North
America, and China. Many of these found their way into lecture notes and into this
book. The reader can assume that when a reference is not given, the items are from
the authors 34 years of experience in the field.
The coverage and references are often extensive but never exhaustive. In addition, there are many language and geographic gaps. This is in part because of lack
of published research and also because neither the author nor his two research
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Preface and Readers Guide

assistants read Far Eastern languages, particularly Chinese and Japanese. However,
most relevant publications from India are in English. This book will not usually
cover secondary mineral products such as patinas on archaeological artifacts. For
patinas, the reader is referred to a series of three annotated bibliographies in Art and
Archaeology Technical Abstracts (e.g., Volume 6, #4, 1967; Volume 7, #1, 1968;
and Volume 7, #2, 1968). Many rocks and minerals of necessity are discussed under
more than one topic heading. Repeating standard information each time would be
inefficient. Therefore, readers are directed to the extensive mineral and rock species
index to see all references to a specific rock or mineral.
This book is written for a broad group of scholars and students. Foremost would
be those archaeologists (practicing and in training) who deal regularly with rock
and mineral artifacts. Geoarchaeologists, diverse geoscientists, historians, conservationists, and anthropologists should find this book helpful. The diversity of this
group presents a challenge. Many geoarchaeologists have at least the equivalent of
a Bachelor of Science in geology. Few historians would have any background in
geology. I ask your indulgence if some sections seem elementary; others might
find these sections critical for their understanding. Behavioral archaeologists sometimes ask why a given group had certain preferences for this or that raw material.
Mineral science can address only those materials that could have provided a higher
quality product for human use. Many cultural preferences may well be unrelated to
anything that can be measured scientifically.
I have had more than 30 years of experience identifying the lithology of materials excavated in Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Israel, Egypt, Tunisia, China, and North
America. The word lithology appears in boldface type because all the scientific
nomenclature in this book that is not in common use or defined in the text appears
in boldface when used for the first time and then defined in the Glossary.
The idea for this volume came from the Series Editor, Gnther Wagner. In amassing and organizing the data I had the devoted and critical assistance of two of my
Ph.D. students, Doris Stoessel and Edith Dunn. Russell Rothe assisted with all of
the figures. The photos in this book were taken by Russell Rothe or by the author.
Elaine Nissen did the stippled drawings. Nancy Nelson reviewed and improved
many chapters. Although portions of this book are based on more than 30 years of
the authors direct experience carrying out geoarchaeology, archaeomineralogy, and
archaeometallurgy, most of what is presented herein is from the literature. Hence,
the often excellent primary work, as well as the many thoughtful summaries by
others, must be acknowledged as the essential basis of whatever value resides in
this book. The author exercised his, perhaps idiosyncratic, judgment concerning
both truth and relevance, and is thus alone responsible for any errors of fact or
judgment.
Duluth, Minnesota,
January 2001

George (Rip) Rapp

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